Porcupines on the run lead to some seriously prickly problems.
Beloved characters return in this, the third in Long’s Happy County series, after Hello, World! (2020) and Sun and Moon Together (2020). When the local water tower springs a leak, Pauly and Polly’s Porcupine Playground floods, causing the frolicking little porcupines to scatter. Now it’s up to the County Mounties to save the day by rounding them up amid much alliteration. Trouble is, they have no idea how to entice porcupines back into the fold. Nothing appears to lure them back (not even Parmesan pimento parfait) until Miss Beverly, the bookmobile librarian, arrives at a prickly pear solution. Supplementing this action are both silly scenes and informative sections (an introduction to “Types of Signs” covers regulatory, guide, and warning signs, for instance) that give the book a distinctly Richard Scarry–esque vibe. Long appears to be steering away from the information-rich text of Sun and Moon Together, however, preferring to unabashedly embrace the series’ silliness and sight gags. Even gags for adults sneak their way in, like the Buckstars coffee-chain ad featuring an antlered mascot and the You Knighted airplane that’s full of folks in armor. Colorful cartoon art guarantees that young eyeballs will stay enthused. (This book was reviewed digitally with 12-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 28.4% of actual size.)
There’s never a dull moment in Happy County, and that’s just the way kids like it. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-76598-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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A class visits the pumpkin patch, giving readers a chance to count down from 20.
At the farm, Farmer Mixenmatch gives them the tour, which includes a petting zoo, an educational area, a corn maze and a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch. Holub’s text cleverly though not always successfully rhymes each child’s name within the line: “ ‘Eighteen kids get on our bus,’ says Russ. / ‘But someone’s late,’ says Kate. / ‘Wait for me!’ calls Kiri.” Pumpkins at the tops of pages contain the numerals that match the text, allowing readers to pair them with the orange-colored, spelled-out numbers. Some of the objects proffered to count are a bit of a stretch—“Guess sixteen things we’ll see,” count 14 cars that arrived at the farm before the bus—but Smith’s artwork keeps things easy to count, except for a challenging page that asks readers to search for 17 orange items (answers are at the bottom, upside down). Strangely, Holub includes one page with nothing to count—a sign marks “15 Pumpkin Street.” Charming, multicultural round-faced characters and lots of detail encourage readers to go back through the book scouring pages for the 16 things the kids guessed they might see. Endpapers featuring a smattering of pumpkin facts round out the text.
Between its autumn and field-trip themes and the fact that not many books start countdowns from 20, this may find its way to many library shelves. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8075-6660-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2012
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS
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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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